On July 10th, the United States House of Representatives passed the Housing Choice Voucher Mobility Demonstration Act. This bill authorizes the HUD secretary to carry out a demonstration program to encourage families receiving housing choice vouchers to move to lower-poverty areas and expand access to opportunity areas. The bill had broad bipartisan support with a vote of 368-19.

With the cost of housing continuing to rise across the country, U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) recently introduced legislation to provide rent relief for working families struggling to pay their bills. The Rent Relief Act would create a new refundable federal tax credit for renters who pay more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities. Senator Harris was joined in the introduction by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH).

On July 18, the Massachusetts House and Senate approved the final FY2019 state budget, released by the conference committee earlier in the day. The $41.88 billion budget includes strong support for affordable housing, homelessness prevention, and community development programs, with increases included for many CHAPA priorities.
The Governor has 10 days to send back the budget to the Legislature with his veto message and sign the budget into law. This will leave the House and Senate with only a few days to override any vetoes before the legislative session ends on July 31.

On July 10, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed an Economic Development Bill. The bill contains a $300 million capital re-authorization for the MassWorks Infrastructure Program, which provides grants to support economic development and affordable housing projects.

This afternoon, the Massachusetts House of Representatives will vote on an Economic Development Bill (H.4714). CHAPA is supporting three amendments to the bill that will help rehabilitate public housing, protect housing assistance programs, and promote economic mobility.

On July 3, The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published two Federal Register notices that affect the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program. The first notice implements the RAD provisions from the FY2018 Appropriations Act. The second notice formally announces five additional changes to the RAD program.